It does look nice. I have an FM3, so not in the market for one at the moment, but I really like the interface. Will be interested to see peoples experiences after a significant number of them have been in the wild for some time.
Looks nice, I saw it appear a couple of hours ago from what I consider to be a better source - not such a comprehensive review but to me more meaningful!
That was very cool. And thanks, @DarrellW for adding the Mary Spender video. I really enjoyed that one. Not something Iām really interested in but this thing looks powerful and interesting.
Also downside of this is you wont ever be able to load in your own amp sim ( no dumble etc) and fender no doubt will update it 2 or 3 times then forget it existsā¦
Okay, that looks epic. Amazing. The tones are great on the GTX already, I wonder how much ābetterā they are on this. Would it be noticeable, I wonder?
I was wondering why it was so much more expensive than their mustangs, then I watched the Mary Spender video. That interface and touch screen built in just looks awesome, so easy to use and configure the different tones, etc. The interface looks very similar to the GTX apps - and things like the tuner look just like the GTX tuner.
Makes me want one ā¦ āeventuallyā.
What else I learnt on that videoā¦ Mary Spender has guitar face too. .
Iām not in the market
Granted though; a powerful high res color display to visualize your board is a strong selling point
For less than a quarter of the price, I own a MOD Audio Dwarf. Itās half the size of this unit.
With a slightly manual process, I can model my gear by providing a dry and āwetā signal AND use the same tech in my DAW. the profile is interchanged via a simple and light JSON file. TIāve been helping to promote this lightwieght AIDA-X techonlogy where neural networks (AI stuff) is used to ālearnā amp/overdrive/distortion behaviour.
I can use guitar, bass, vocals but also MIDI devices. It even has a (somewhat rudimentary) āguitar to synthā process. A BUNCH of midi tools on board
It also have some decent amp simps, cab IR, regular and convolution reverbs.
A bunch of different tools and plugins; many variations of effects
program it by literally drawing connections between plugins in a browser window; create flows with splits, switches, snapshots and map any parameter to any button and switch you want.
Most plugins are free.
it can record and play so with the correct plugin it is also a looper and recording device
Hehe, looks and sounds cool
BUT
Having just purchased a Helix Pod Go and picking up Stefanās Katana 50 tomorrow, all for ONE FIFTH (!) of the price of the above board + speaker, Iāll take a pass
I know Iāll never even scratch the surface of what any of my gear can do, but for anyone setting out without a budgetā¦ as I said: Cool
My Fender Mustang GTX is also around 1/5 the price. And it sounds great tooā¦
I checked prices of similar things, and the Tone Master Pro is about the same price as a Kemper Profiler (and looks way better), and a few hundred dollars cheaper than either the equivalent Line6 Helix or Quad Cortex. The Fractal Headrush is cheaper. This is all in Australia of course.
So it looks priced right vs other equivalent gear. The top of the top modeller/profilers.
Which makes me wonder, at what point do these things make more sense than a Katana/GTX/Pod? I assume theyāre more convenient and somehow have better sound. Are they mainly targeted at touring musicians?
It looks super, super cool. I definitely donāt need one of these things, but I lust after it.
I presume Robās correct, that these are primarily targeted at professional and especially performing musicians.
The more expensive units have more input/output/connectivity possibilities, but for most of us who play at home or in small venues, thatās not really necessary.
Some amateur hobbyists are notorious for buying āThe bestā- and why not, if it makes you happy and you can afford it?
The other factor to consider is that you can never pick up the latest model second hand, which can make a big difference. And by the time you can- a newer, ābetterā (and more expensive) toy has come along
I would have said they are totally different beasts: the Kemper is a profiler and you can profile almost including any amp you want, or drive/pre-amp.pedals or combinations of pedals.
The Tonemaster Pro is a multifx unit with amp modelling.
Iām not sure where you are getting your prices from.
Looking at UK prices, the Tonemaster Pro is Ā£1,699 compared to the Helix at Ā£1,249 and the QC is Ā£1,499.
Personally, if they were the same price I would probably get the Helix or QC over the Fender. I donāt see anything particularly compelling about it to make me want it over the other two (and Line 6 have a very good track record of continued product support, which Fender do not).
Thatās a very good question. And itās one that applies to high-end tube amp rigs too.
Frankly, in a gigging situation, as far as the audience is concerned it almost certainly makes no difference at all. It then comes down to whether you think that any difference in feel is enough to justify the extra cost.
To a degree, the same applies to recording.
Especially as you can get some excellent amp modelling plugins which probably sound as good as these high-end units.
I think one advantage these units have is the flexibility of patches and the user interface which is probably useful in a gigging situation, especially if you want to tweak settings on the fly.
For most home users, I think these are totally overkill.
I look at it along the lines of buying high-end guitars. They might be nice, but the real differences between, say, a Ā£1000 guitar and a Ā£6,000 guitar are pretty negligible.
And pro musicians, who can afford and justify having expensive kit, have gigged with cheap rigs showing that having fancy gear really is a luxury:
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